Why are Apple chargers so easily broken?

piatti · Feb 2, 2012

Is it so that Apple can profit off of customers constantly having to buy new (expensive) chargers? Is there a reason why Apple charges have to be so expensive as well? From what I understand Window laptop chargers are so much cheaper and last a long time compared to Apple charger. My cord just disconnected (I mean the white part came off and wire is showing).

I guess they make the part where the white cover of the wires meet the square middle thing really flimsy so that it disattches from there easily and then because of that small weakness in the wire one has to buy new charger very frequently, bringing in extra revenues for the Apple corporation.

This is my second time the charger broke (actually my brother's broke too so...) that's three chargers in total that Apple corporation owes us. It's pretty obvious that Apple is after money, not innovation.

SandboxGeneral · Feb 2, 2012

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That's odd. My former MBP 2,2 which is still being used by some friends has it's original cord and there isn't anything wrong with it.

obsidian1200 · Feb 2, 2012

SandboxGeneral said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

That's odd. My former MBP 2,2 which is still being used by some friends has it's original cord and there isn't anything wrong with it.

Same here, except different MBP model and a newer cable...

I'm still using the charger included with my MBP without any problems, bought it used, though, so I can't say if it's the original. Either way, I've been using it without problems for about 3 years now without any issues or tearing. I would think that the newer magsafe connectors would be less susceptible to breaking than the older ones (like the one I have).

AlphaDogg · Feb 2, 2012

I've had my chargers break 6+ times.

Primejimbo · Feb 2, 2012

I have my original charger for my Macbook (2008) and my iPod also (2007) and all my iPhones also, all working fine.
No my work laptop the charger is fine, but the port is bad and not cheap to fix either. I like how Apple has their ports, they don't break easily at all.

GGJstudios · Feb 2, 2012

My original charger is still like new on my nearly 4-year-old MBP. With few exceptions, it's all about how well you take care of things.

SuperCachetes · Feb 2, 2012

My MBP charger is over two years old and used at least every other day. No issues.

Everything Apple makes isn't perfect, but if you've broken two chargers in a row, maybe "you're holding it wrong..."

jmazzamj · Feb 2, 2012

My sister and I are using ours Airs original charger and there's oohing wrong with them...They are new Macs I have to say and I do have extra care for my charger as I know they can easily brake, but my sis isn't as conscious as I am though.

However my 3Gs USB cable did brake not once but twice and I think I will have to replace it soon...

Spink10 · Feb 2, 2012

Obviously if you take super good care of an item it will likely last a long time. But it does appear that Apple chargers seem less durable than other chargers.

Apple OC · Feb 2, 2012

piatti said:
Is it so that Apple can profit off of customers constantly having to buy new (expensive) chargers? Is there a reason why Apple charges have to be so expensive as well? From what I understand Window laptop chargers are so much cheaper and last a long time compared to Apple charger. My cord just disconnected (I mean the white part came off and wire is showing).

I guess they make the part where the white cover of the wires meet the square middle thing really flimsy so that it disattches from there easily and then because of that small weakness in the wire one has to buy new charger very frequently, bringing in extra revenues for the Apple corporation.

This is my second time the charger broke (actually my brother's broke too so...) that's three chargers in total that Apple corporation owes us. It's pretty obvious that Apple is after money, not innovation.

looks like you have found the answer to Apple's record sales figures ... extra chargers

malman89 · Feb 2, 2012

Just hit and miss it appears. I have a friend on his 4th, I'm on my 2nd - and the first one just recently "split" after 4.5 years. It was the old "T" adapter, which has been proven to be defective, so I got that replaced for free at least.

Macintosh-HD · Feb 2, 2012

From what I was told at a local Mac shop, it's because Apple is using more "green" components that are not as strong as synthetic ones.

jaynone · Feb 2, 2012

I've had two chargers replaced in the intel mac era, but both were because the little LED's stopped working. I've never had a cable fray or anything.

Macintosh-HD said:
From what I was told at a local Mac shop, it's because Apple is using more "green" components that are not as strong as synthetic ones.

Uhhh. Yeah right.

chrono1081 · Feb 2, 2012

piatti said:
Is it so that Apple can profit off of customers constantly having to buy new (expensive) chargers? Is there a reason why Apple charges have to be so expensive as well? From what I understand Window laptop chargers are so much cheaper and last a long time compared to Apple charger. My cord just disconnected (I mean the white part came off and wire is showing).

I guess they make the part where the white cover of the wires meet the square middle thing really flimsy so that it disattches from there easily and then because of that small weakness in the wire one has to buy new charger very frequently, bringing in extra revenues for the Apple corporation.

This is my second time the charger broke (actually my brother's broke too so...) that's three chargers in total that Apple corporation owes us. It's pretty obvious that Apple is after money, not innovation.

1. I've had several Mac laptops and not a single charger broke. I'm not saying it can't happen, but I hardly doubt its a frequent occurence.

2. Windows laptop chargers are much more expensive. Mac adapters are roughly $80, Windows adapters for Dells, HP's and Sony's are roughly $120. I know because I always have to order them at work.

stiligFox · Feb 2, 2012

The problem I have with my MBA's cord is that the green/orange charge light likes to go dim, or even off completely, a lot. I replaced it once, the new started doing it again in about two days. I don't care too much, I just don't like the idea of a wire potentially being broken inside.

jaynone · Feb 2, 2012

chrono1081 said:
2. Windows laptop chargers are much more expensive. Mac adapters are roughly $80, Windows adapters for Dells, HP's and Sony's are roughly $120. I know because I always have to order them at work.

So, i've always been curious, how cross compatible are windows laptop manufactures chargers within the same model. Will a dell charger from one machine work on any other similar dell machines?

That is one great thing about apple, the entire magsafe line is compatible. The entire previous generation was compatible too.

chrono1081 · Feb 2, 2012

jaynone said:
So, i've always been curious, how cross compatible are windows laptop manufactures chargers within the same model. Will a dell charger from one machine work on any other similar dell machines?

That is one great thing about apple, the entire magsafe line is compatible. The entire previous generation was compatible too.

Generally they are not compatible. For example we have 6 Dell models at work, none of the chargers work with each other. They're either of a different size plug wise, or output a different power.

HP's are a little more friendly in this regard, but not by much. We have 5 HP models at work, two of them can use the same adapter, the others are all model specific.

Sony's are like Dell's, we only have 4 Sony models (although some rare rogue models are floating around) and none of the adapters fit any other model.

And don't think about Universal adapters either, they're bad luck. IF they work they work fine until people lose the tips, but generally they don't work like the manufacturers adapter and are often more expensive. Usually $120 for the power brick and then extra for the tip.

Macintosh-HD · Feb 3, 2012

jaynone said:
Uhhh. Yeah right.

Uhhh. Don't shoot the messenger.

Like I said, it's from what I heard. Anyways, I'd say it could be halfway true anyhow given that Apple is striving to be more "green" these days. It could be all hogwash like you mentioned, but still, it's a possibility.

Alaerian · Feb 3, 2012

An iBook from 2003 (or 2004?).
A MacBook from 2008.
A current gen MacBook Pro.

All three with fully functional chargers.

Perhaps you should take better care of your stuff.

motoleo · Feb 3, 2012

True. Mine looks like this. It's not broken, but it's dirty and old looking enough to make me buy a new one.

Apple's accessories are expensive because they're well designed and luxurious.

Shrink · Feb 3, 2012

GGJstudios said:
My original charger is still like new on my nearly 4-year-old MBP. With few exceptions, it's all about how well you take care of things.

I use my charger all the time - no problems. I would say that if you use the hooks built into the power brick, it stresses the connection point. So don't use it. With some care at the connection points, it seems to me there is not a big problem. If you don't take some care - I'm sure they break.

dukebound85 · Feb 3, 2012

I have never experienced a bad charger, be it for macbook(s), ipod(s) and iphones(s)

perhaps you are too rough? for instance....never pull by the cord?

motoleo · Feb 3, 2012

All things wear down after a while.

TrentS · Feb 3, 2012

Ugh!

I don't like the chargers where the male prongs flip out at a 90 degree angle. These type of plugs usually lose their connection internally, then go bad. I always have to use a heavy duty rubberband around the big white square housing and around the power strip to make the connection strong in order to get current flowing to my MacBook Pro. It's a pain.

snberk103 · Feb 3, 2012

Anecdotal means nothing, but between the two of us we've had (or have) 6 laptops/iPads - all Apple - and not once have we had a charger go bad. Some of the systems have had more than one charger (due to leaving home without the charger). We don't take any special care of the charger...just use them as tools.

Macintosh-HD said:
From what I was told at a local Mac shop, it's because Apple is using more "green" components that are not as strong as synthetic ones.

jaynone said:
....
Uhhh. Yeah right.

Uhhh.... I actually think this might be true. A couple of months ago I read an article that Apple has been praised for being one of the 1st tech companies to remove one of the chemicals commonly used in computer cables because it was a known carcinogen.

Since this was a "good news" article, it didn't mention what the downsides would have been.

Apple has actually been doing a lot to diminish their eco-footprint in the past few years.

Why are Apple chargers so easily broken?

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